House prices rise across NZ

House prices are continuing to climb, with the average price paid for a home nationwide reaching $977,456 in the three months to the end of September, according to Quotable Value.

That is up 3.6 per cent on the average price the previous quarter.

QV updates its rolling quarterly measure of house prices every month, and its data suggests prices continued to rise in the month of September, as well as over the three-month period as a whole.

The average price was up 1.5 per cent on the average price of $963,046 that it reported was paid in the three months to the end of August.

The Delta lockdown didn’t stop house prices in the Auckland region from achieving a 1.7 per cent monthly gain in September to reach a new average price of $1,391,598, according to QV.

Prices in Auckland were up 3.3 per cent over the previous quarter.

QV’S quarterly index of house prices rose in all 16 major urban regions that it tracks, with average prices also consolidating above $1m in Queenstown, Tauranga and Wellington.

While prices were up everywhere, QV general manager David Nagel said the rate of increase varied, with price rises accelerating in nine of the regions and easing off in the other seven.

Prices rose fastest in Queenstown which saw a 9.4 per cent jump over the quarter to $1,517,690 and slowest in Rotorua where the average price was up 0.8 per cent to $697,326.

The Reserve Bank has since lifted the official cash rate to 0.5 per cent, prompting ANZ and Kiwibank to raise some of their mortgage rates, which is likely to have a moderating effect on the market.

Tougher controls on the volume of lending that banks can offer at low loan-to-value ratios will kick in at the start of next month and should also have the effect of dampening demand.

Changes to interest deductability rules that drastically limit the situations in which property investors can deduct interest charges from their taxable income kicked in on October 1.

Nagel said all those developments could combine to bring about ‘‘a gradual swing in the power balance between buyers and sellers’’ over the coming months.

‘‘But it’s difficult to foresee anything more than a gradual slowing in the rate of value growth in the foreseeable future,’’ he said.

Lockdowns were continuing to suppress the number of property listings, particularly in Auckland, and it was possible that had contributed to higher prices, as buyers vied for limited stock, he said.

‘‘We’re hearing anecdotal evidence from agents that appraisal inquiries are on the rise in many locations – a great signal that spring might finally provide the listings we’d normally expect.’’

QV’S data is broadly consistent with Corelogic’s index of house prices, which earlier also reported house prices continuing to rise in the three months to the end of September and during the month itself.

But Corelogic reported a small decline in the rate of growth in September which it suggested could be a sign of a turning point.